2025-06-06: Extraterrestrial Intelligence 118
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Guy Shishioh, Lina Lombardi, Knight, Alien Zarab, Tatsuhiko Munakata, Akihisa Taki
- Where: Bay Tower Cafeteria
- Date: U.C. 00100 06 06
- Summary: It's lunch time at Bay Tower! Everything is fine.
Unfortunately, a problem arrives.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Bay Tower has played a lot of roles in its time -- 3G base, SDC headquarters, and now back to being both. Office space in Nouvelle Tokyo is at a premium and office space which can accommodate non-Wanzer mobile weapons is even more at a premium. With 3G going from one active branch to three in what, in the cosmic sense, is fairly short order, they definitely need it!
It's a pretty unremarkable day, all told. Akane Shinjo (from class!) is back from class and at work for a little while; she's taken her work laptop -- which does not leave the building -- to the cafeteria to work on analyzing something semi-sensitive.
Well, that and sending emails.
Today's lunch -- at least for Akane! -- is chicken katsu over rice with bean sprouts, Chinese cabbage, and extra tonkatsu sauce. ... and, of course, bottled vegetable juice.
"Mmmrmm... no, this doesn't make sense," she murmurs softly, before pulling a small notepad from her bag. Maybe this will make more sense if she tries to model it as a drawing... that's more her speed, anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
Lina Lombardi (the self-proclaimed Ace Pilot Of 3G), however, tries not to make a habit of bringing her work to lunch. She had a few test flights of the Custom set for later, so she unfortunately could not have a super-hearty meal, just a simple salami on ciabatta with water for her today.
She notices Akane working across the room, walking over and sitting across from her as she takes a bite of her sandwich. "Not worried about getting crumbs in your keyboard, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy Shishioh is no longer The Superhuman Evoluder NOR the World's Strongest Cyborg, and can no longer beat the city's famous rail infrastructure in a foot race.
The As-Yet-Untitled Semi-Evoluder can apparently still make it to the Hatsuno diner and back in a single lunch hour, though, as Chief Shishioh enters with a bag full of the delicious GGG Treat that can't be beat, Hatsuno Island Burgers. Are those going to become Amami Burgers sometime?? What a time to be alive...
"Ah, hard at work even at lunch, huh?" he prompts, seeing Akane begin Activities. He invites himself over because friends can do that! And Guy is everyone's friend!
Meanwhile, nearby, Akihisa Taki is tuned out with a cafeteria pastrami on rye in one hand (a tip-off from a New Yark survivor he met on Concord) and his laptop in front of him, which is beaming some manner of classic scifi live action space drama into his headphones.
(it's TOS.)
He has yet to notice his multiple bosses.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Huh? Not really," Akane says, with a wobble of her hand. "Rikka's really good at fixing stuff. I usually ask her to pop open my computer to clean it out every few months, so it never racks up... /that/ much." She furrows her brow a little, sketching something out on her paper. "No, that's not right..."
Shaking the thought out of her head, whatever it was, Akane gives Guy a wave too. "Yeah, uh, things are kind of crunched... school kicked up this week, so some of the stuff on my desk is kinda piling up. I'll be fine, but it /is/ kinda... a lot, today. I need a little room to breathe."
A pause. "I should really offload some of this stuff."
Akane looks over at Taki.
... She would never betray a fellow otaku in that way. She gets back to work.
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
Lina gives a quick glance over at Taki. Working hard or hardly working? Asami definitely has her hands full between him and Shinji, Lina thinks to herself.
"Ciao, Cap'n!" Lina gives a grin and a wave to her boss. "Burgers again?" She asks, noticing the bag.
She leans forward a bit to get a peek at Akane's notepad, raising a brow. A lot of 3G Red's work could go over her head, but she couldn't help but be curious. "You definitely don't want to overwork yourself. You'll give yourself wrinkles. It may not be my department, but if there's anything I can do to help..."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy huffs a sigh, helping himself to a seat. "Entouji's practically tearing his hair out," he says, not that that's a statement with much data in it. "*Somebody* has been trying to crack the Orbit Base outer firewall for a few days, and they're using tricks we only know how to defend against from when I had all my Evoluder powers. Not to mention..." he motions, vaguely, at Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. "I hear Munekata's here today for a meeting with the OSU brass. Somebody's got it in their heads that Orb's political situation turning is something we should look at. We'll see what he comes back with." This is the kind of thing that maybe shouldn't be shared too freely - but it just shows Guy's belief in trusting his comrades.
Then Taki yelps behind them. His laptop sparks, jolts, and goes dead. Then he HOWLS. "What!?"
Then the lights go out, leaving only streaming daylight in the room. Sparks run along the bulbs. Akane's laptop crackles loudly and goes not just dark, but /dead/ dead.
Guy doubles over the table, clutching his temple. "What's this...pain!? Some kind of electromagnetic pulse!? How--"
The shutters slam shut, a fail-safe in the event of total power loss. And then, as emergency low-power lights struggle to light the space, the shadow appears. Directly behind Lina there is a man-shaped thing in a trenchcoat and hat, and peering out from behind the tiny gap between hat and coat collar are glowing, inhuman eyes.
"Ah. That would be my doing. It appears my appearance here triggered a shockwave," it says, in a twisted, distorted voice. "You have remarkable apparation defenses, for such a primitive planet."
A moment passes.
"I think the term is, howdy?"
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Nouvelle Tokyo. Midday.
SCHWING! The sound of metal cuts the air in two - much in the same way that a gleaming red blade cleaves a dummy in two, lengthways. Wooden shards drop to the floor and then dissipate in spectral light as Knight sheathes his sword.
"Knight, dear, are you sure you don't want a bite?" The gray-haired Hyper Agent's partner stands beside him, chewing on an odd-looking ration bar. Knight and Second are perched on a Nouvelle Tokyo rooftop, engaged in Knight's daily training.
"Another round," Knight says in a monotone.
"You're going to train yourself to death! But, fine." Second motions to snap her fingers, but before she does- both of them feel something. A full body shiver runs its way up Knight, and Second's eyes glow.
"Something-"
"Knight. The harbor. Something bad."
"Right." Knight grimaces. The harbor is where. . .
Knight and Second leap off the building without another word.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane raises an eyebrow at the mention of Orb's political situation. That was something she knew /might/ come up, but wasn't going to hit Red's desk at its present state. "Oh, if that's coming up, uh, actually, yeah, Lina, I could use some help with that... Hold on..." She seems to be trying to dredge something out of memory -- but she doesn't have the time before things get a little crazy.
She screams, but only a little; her /second/ step in the process is to start reaching for her recently-acquired sidearm. 3G has /so/ many redundant systems that it's hard to think of a non-malicious reason for everything to simply explode all at once.
As the man-shaped thing introduces itself, Akane pauses. She doesn't /cease/ to hold her sidearm, but she does move to merely keep a hand on it and turn to fully face Lina and their mystery guest.
"... Bonjour," Akane says, picking an equally not-quite-geographically-appropriate greeting. "Who are you?"
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
Lina shoots up when the lights go down, then yelps in surprise when the shadow appears behind her. She clutches at her chest, the sight of A Mysterious Stranger In A Hat causing her some understandable distress. It's not him, though.
She thinks.
Taking a breath in through her nose and out through her mouth to quiet the adrenaline in her veins, she takes a few steps away from the figure, wishing she had brought her gun to lunch.
The fact that the figure was choosing to speak rather than attack was of some small comfort, but she's still on guard. "H-Howdy...?"
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Taki yelps, "My collection! No, no, come on!" and slaps the keyboard a few times, achieving nothing. "More than that, my Vajra analysis! Yumi's gonna kill me! No over-the-air backups my hat..."
He sighs weakly, soullessly pulling his headset off and hanging limp for long seconds. "I'm toast," he says in English.
"Greetings, Toast. I am Zarab," the thing in the trenchcoat says, causing Taki to jolt back to the present and realize who all is assembled. Guy is recovering from getting zorched. He starts to hold himself up...
When another person inserts himself among them, a square-faced man with a deep scowl, who gently places a hand on Guy's shoulder and Akane's hand holding the side-arm both; indicating he believes force is not the way to play this.
It's Tatsuhiko Munekata - attached to GGG Red with one arm, and the colorless (but it's gold) GGG administration wing with the other. Once he's made his point, he withdarws his hands. "I thought I could get away with a short tea break," he asides by way of explaining his presence, but his serious expression never breaks from Zarab.
Zarab's squinting gaze turns to Munekata. "Your presence is timely. I have come with an interest to declare my friendship to your family of nations."
He doesn't squint, but there is a raw intensity to his motionless face that implies it, like the camera suddenly zoomed in. "They will be here soon, correct?"
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Indeed, they will be here soon. Knight freefalls and transforms in midair, their rear rockets kicking off for a massive leap - they clear nearly half the city in a bound. Passersby are probably used to this sort of thing on a regular basis - it's Nouvelle Tokyo, what are you gonna do?
The two arrive at the Space Development Company building as Knight detransforms, Second falling from their giant hand to his waiting arms. What they are met with, is a building in complete lockdown.
"Ingress is going to be difficult, it seems."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane feels a hand on her shoulder. She takes a deep breath in, then releases it, slowly pulling her hand away from her bag. Munakata is absolutely right. This does not need to be escalated -- at least not yet.
She slowly, surely turns to face Zarab completely. "Yeah, though they might be a /little/ delayed with /all of our electronics/ broken," she says, falling back to the sulkiness of a teenager that she hasn't yet fully grown out of. "The shutters are in lockdown mode, and everything in the entryway is probably shot too, which is going to make it /pretty/ slow if you want, like, a dignitary here or something to talk to."
She takes a moment. Okay. This guy at least /says/ he wants to be friends. She knows better than to trust that implicitly; Alexis wanted to be friends, too. "... So what's your deal, while we wait for that?" Akane asks, leaning against the cafeteria table.
Something shifts in her gut. She feels like /something/ is happening, but she can't quite place it yet.
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
"Zarab..." Okay, so this guy comes in peace and wants to be taken to our leaders. That's... normal, Lina thinks? She's never made first contact before, to be completely fair. She relaxes her stance a bit, especially on the entrance of Munekata.
"Government leaders also tend to be very busy and hard to get on such short notice," she adds on to Akane's statement. Though with something like this, they might have to make the time. Having fully calmed down, she sits back down, looking up at Zarab.
"But where are our manners? You've introduced yourself, the favor should be returned. My name is Lina Lombardi."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Outside, a man with magenta hair is grinning his best customer service smile as he hands over a pair of hot Unique Dogs to a pair of Betterman cameos. Then a shadow falls over them, of a great purple giant boosting across the sky.
Gauma scowls skyward and watches him go. "Like he owns the damn place!" he huffs, as if Yume weren't in complete violation of every aerospace law, like, constantly.
Meanwhile, Zarab has displeased the locals. "Ah. Yes. It appears my manifestation has interfered with your apparation protections to cause this shockwave. As a show of my good will, I will fix this for you."
Guy trades a glance with Munakata, then back to Zarab. "Fix?"
Zarab holds aloft a single hand, almost reptilian, which has in its gnarled palm an emblem like some holy Earth spiral mandala. It all but sings...
...and electronics that were definitely /destroyed/, not just somewhat overloaded but fully exploded and releasing the blue smoke of final death, hum gently and turn back to life.
Taki turns back around because he hears Kirk knock a man out, then looks back to Akane with shock. "That's...impossible? How could you have done that??"
Zarab lowers its hand. Another man might fold his hands with confident, perhaps even imposing, politeness. "It is an innate ability of my psychophysiological makeup. A power unique to myself and my kind. I cannot teach it. But of course, I will be happy to do favors." You can't see if he's smiling, but he pauses like he was. "For my friends."
The lights come back on. The window shutters start to roll back up, allowing light back into the room. He glances to Lina. "Lombardi," he repeats, as if committing it deep to memory.
Guy shakes out his head a little, but looks to Munakata and Akane. "I've got all-clears from every department. He just...fixed the whole building."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
"I can see that. Stand back." Knight steps up, and sets their shoulders.
"Knight, maybe you shouldn't-" Knight leaps forward, and-
The entire building goes off high alert. Shutters roll up, alarms stop flashing. Knight skids to a stop and nearly dents the ground as they land.
"I guess not!" Second replies, her glasses flashing.
The two burst through the Space Development Company's doors, leaving a /very/ confused secretary in their wake as they leap past security checkpoints.
"Shaft?" Knight's words are curt and quick. Second points a direction.
The two find the GGG secret elevator in due time. Second goes to push the button, before Knight cuts right through the door. They grab their partner and freefall into the shaft. They have to hurry. They have to hurry. They have to hurry.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Lina introduces herself, and Akane realizes she hasn't introduced herself either. "Akane Shinjo," she says, and then follows up with, "Special assistant to 3G Red's chief," the title she uses when she doesn't think her actual title is something she wants in the hands of present company.
She seems /stunned/ as Zarab simply undoes the shockwave. That actually puts her on slightly /higher/ alert, but she knows she can't freak out right now. Instead, she just closes her eyes for a moment, mentally counting to five. Her head cants slightly to one side as she looks Zarab over, as he explains his 'innate ability' to appear in a way that messes with electronics and also allows essentially arbitrary interface with all components of electronics.
"... That's so cool," she offers, which is a thing she /does/ sincerely feel, just firmly alongside 300 other worse emotions.
That vague feeling is getting closer, and louder in her gut. That /also/ reduces the number of things it could be -- and since almost all of them are good, she lets herself relax, despite her growing concern.
<Pose Tracker> Lina Lombardi has posed.
"Impressive. The AC at my place has been on the fritz for a bit, I'll have to have you come over." Lina gives a soft chuckle, attempting to ease the tension.
She doesn't think it worked.
"Anyway... If you wanted to speak to our leaders, why come to us? Why not show yourself at the capital in Tokyo? Or hell, aim bigger, NUNE Central Council?"
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy brings himself up. "Could I have even done that as an Evoluder?" he wonders.
"Perhaps," Zarab answers the rhetorical question. "But now you cannot imagine it. There are many such wonders in this universe, Semi-Evoluder Guy of Earth."
Meanwhile, two young ladies in blue desk-staff uniforms squawk in surprise as Knight and Second go darting past at full tilt, sending staff and visitors scattering. "Oh hey see you later, Second!" Namiko Koudzuki yells and waves as he goes past.
"Those two are always in a hurry," her perennial partner Hass in her professional mask sighs.
Zarab hems. "But for now, perhaps I have made my point enough. Please do relay my desires to your leaders. With Earth in its current predicament...I'm sure you could use many friends."
The lights flicker, and Zarab flickers, and when the lights come back up he's gone.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Knight bursts into the room with sword drawn, and LUNGES.
The schwing of a sword cleaves the air in two.
Nothing.
And Knight is standing in front of a room of very shocked GGG personnel with a sword drawn, and eyes ice-cold.
They sheathe their sword. Second follows afterwards, peeking through the door.
"Hi, everyone. . ."
"What'd we miss. . .?" Her attempt at a joke doesn't seem to quite fit the mood.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane brings her pen up to her mouth for a moment, chewing on it as Lina does a little bantering. It's amusing to /her/, but other things about the situation chew at her enough that she can't quite let herself find it all the way funny.
When Zarab decides he's leaving, Akane says, "Of course," maintaining professionalism.
Then Knight appears with a sword!!!
Akane breathes a sigh of relief out, saying, "At least /someone/ smelled the rancid vibes on that," with a slight grimace. "Hey." She doesn't quite meet Knight's eyes; she rarely does. She's always struggled with the intensity of his gaze -- and embarrassment about her own.
She looks to Munekata, then Knight, saying, "... I'm not sure I like that, but it might just be me being reminded of Alexis. We'll... I guess we kinda have to see, huh." She shifts uneasily. "I'll open a file. I think this is an all branches situation, given he both wants to go over our heads /and/ everything he can do..."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy's as surprised as anyone, as the one who now answers to Knight arrives with decisive action - but he relaxes soon after. "We had a visitor," he says, and passes a look to Akane and Munakata. "An alien being calling itself Zarab. It had some kind of mastery over electricity."
Akihisa Taki, who is still here, excitedly explains, "He restored data to obliterated hard drives! That's...I don't even know what that is! That's not just electromagnetism! You'd have to...." He scratches his head, and then grunts. "Humans can't do that!" is his summary.
Munakata's face is as cold as ever, and he catches Akane's look. "He's got us cornered," he reports. "By requesting to be introduced, he's put the ball in our court. If I don't, that's good enough excuse to go visit some other faction who might be more 'friendly' to his powers. NUNE's aggressive stance on aliens won't stand up against one offering to use miraculous powers like that for their sake."
His head tips down, then he nods. "I'll speak with Kotaro. I agree. We'll need everyone on this."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Knight stands silent as he returns his stance to a neutral one. They let Second do the talking. It doesn't show, but Akane is likely able to tell they're frustrated.
"Zarab. . ." Second's face blanches. "Well, it's a bit out of our department, but concerning none the less. I'll make some calls. You do the same as well."
The two go to leave, but Knight turns to Akane before they exit.
"Stay safe." It's barely a whisper.